Trump report blames Obama’s policies for slow economic growth

Nearly-600 page report is most detailed analysis of the economy by President Donald Trump’s staff

By

JoshZumbrun

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President Donald Trump’s report to Congress lays blame for economic weakness on his predecessor.

President Donald Trump’s first official economic report to Congress makes a lengthy case that the U.S. economy has been weak in recent years, not because of the severity of the most recent recession, but because of policy mistakes by Trump’s predecessor.

“The stagnation of America’s middle class in the wake of the recession is much worse than believed, and government policy under President Obama should share some of the blame,” said Kevin Hassett, the chair of the Council of Economic Advisers, the lead author of the report and the president’s top economist. “One explanation for this historical slowdown is that Obama’s tax and transfer policies worsened the wound.”

The nearly-600 page Economic Report of the President is the most detailed analysis of the economy and economic policy by Trump’s staff. By reversing the Obama administration policies, the report argues, the economy will be able to grow 3% per year over the next decade.

“In recent years, the pursuit of alternative policy aspirations at the expense of growth has imposed real economic costs on the American people, in the form of diminished opportunity, security, equity, and even health,” the report said.

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